Toyota engines could prompt another recall

Toyota engines: A potential fault could affect some 270,000 Toyota vehicles, most of them sold outside Japan. But the company has not yet issued a recall.

ByAlissa Figueroa, CorrespondentJuly 1, 2010

Toyota engines pose a potential risk in some 270,000 vehicles, including seven luxury Lexus models, the company announced Thursday. In this file photo taken April 13, the Lexus logo is seen on the grille of a vehicle at a dealership in Portland, Maine.

Pat Wellenbach/AP/File

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Another Toyota recall may be imminent, after the Japanese auto-dealer announced Thursday that some 270,000 vehicles worldwide have potentially faulty engines that can stall while the cars are moving, the Associated Press reported.

About 180,000 of the vehicles – which include seven models of luxury Lexus sedans – were sold outside Japan.

The car company said that it had received 200 complaints about the engine problems, but a spokesperson for Toyota said that no accidents resulting from the engine problems had been reported. The automaker did not confirm if a recall would be forthcoming.

The announcement comes months after Toyota’s global recall of some 8 million vehicles due to acceleration problems in January. At least 32 deaths have been linked to the "sticky pedal" defect, according to reports.

Toyota paid the US nearly $16.4 million in fines (the largest amount permitted by law) in April for failing to notify the government of the pedal default for almost four months. On May 10, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that it was opening an investigation to determine if the Japanese car company notified the agency of a 2005 steering-rod defect within five days of learning about it, as is required by law.

The safety agency is also studying the safety of electronic vehicle controls across the automotive industry. The results of that study will be released later this summer.